Deicing apparatus for airplane propellers



March 14, 1939. T. SIEBENTHALER 2,150,521

DEICING APPARATUS FOR AIRPLANE PROPELLERS Filed Dec '7, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 ATTORNEY S March 14, 1939. T. SIEBENTHALER ,1

' DEICING APPARATUS 'FOR AIRPLANE PROPELLERS Filed Dec. '7, 1957: 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I ZEIIIIII'" i I I fig 72 /z9 I INVENTOR Tho/W 4 ATT N Patented Mar. 14, 1939 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4.150321 "Thomas L. Siebenthal er, Kansas City, My, as-

: i? are I ompany, nsas y, 9., a corpora on Application December 7, 1931, Serial No. 110,508

9 Claims. (01. 244-434) This invention relates to airplane propeller asline VI-VI of Fig, 3- and looking in the direction semblies and has for its primary object the proof the arrows. v vision of structure therein for applying ice pre- Flg. 7 is an enlfl-rged'detailed cross-sectional venting liquid to the propeller blades. view through one of the mounting brackets, dis- It is well-known in this art that-due to the closing clearly the resilient bearings therein. 5

tremendous vibration encountered in airplane Fig. '8 is a perspective view of a bracket yoke. propeller assemblies, and the difliculty of mount- Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the resiling a large number of parts thereon, that it has ient bearings removed from its operative position. heretofore been one of .the industries greatest Fig. 10 is a fragmentary detailed view through l0 problems to satisfactorily deposit'ice preventing an airplane propeller assembly, illustrating an liquid on propeller blades without the depositing modified type of mounting bracket, and, elements being rendereduseiess after a fw hours Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary, detailed service. 1 view taken on line XI-Xf'of Fig. 10.

This invention has for its salient object there- The simplicity of the structure embodying the IS fore, the provision of liquid applying structure .preferred form of this invention will at once 16 that is made up of exceptionally few partaall {become apparent to one skilled inthe art, and it of which are specially designed to cooperate with will also be clear that the propeller assembly 7 the propeller assembly and to overcome the forces with which the liquid applying structure is asof vibration, torque and burdensome weight. sociated, may comprise the conventional hub ll go An even further object of the invention is to in which is secured a plurality of propellers i6, 26

provide in liquid applying structure for airplane each of which extends radially outward from an propeller assemblies, a specially formed distribuaxis 01' rotation which is on the longitudinal centor shell and uniquely arranged and created ter of drive shaft i0. Propellers ii in this in-' mounting brackets therefore, allof which may stance, are shown in a fragmentary manner,

, operate emcientl'y for a relatively long period of angles to drive shaft ll and intersects at least a time. portion of all of blades I. q A still further aim of this invention 'is the Hub I l is usuaily formed of two castings, each provision of means for mounting a liquid applyof which has an ear projected therefrom and ing device to airplane propeller hubs, which through which ears is passed a securing bolt or means. incorporates resilient elements for absimilar element, 22, which may be used in an adsorbing the shock, vibration and torque which vantageous-manner as more fully hereinafter set would be, transmitted to the liquid applying down. f 4 7 structure if brackets embodying this invention A nose piece u i usually tl the P were not utilized. peller assembly in front of the. same and on the 35 A large number of minorobjects are contemlongitudinal center line, and in this instance, plated and the same will become apparent dur- I said nose piece may be an aluminum spinning ing the course of the following speciflcation,'rethat is arcuate in cross section and generally ferring to the accompan ing drawings wherein: dome-shaped. This nose piece 24 is secured to 40 Figure l is a side elevation of an airplane pro-' a collar 2' that is amxed to the hereinafter de- 0 pelier assembly showing the liquid applying scribed liquid applying structure.

I, structure, made in accordance with this inven The means'. for actually applying the liquid I v tion, in the operative position. v which prevents the formation of ice on propeller Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. blades lli, comprises a distributor shell 28 that is Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary reareleva-- dish-shaped to have a bottom ll and an annular 5 tional view of a propeller assembly showing the side wall 32. provided with notches 34. Bottom liquid applying structure mounted thereon. 3. has a hole 36 formed therethrough for the Fig. 4 is a: perspective view of the distributor passage of drive shaft l8, and an annular resershell forming one ofthe elements of the liquid voir 38 is formed by bottom 30 of shell 28 at the applying structure. edge thereof which defines hole 30. This reserm Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view voir l. is. in the form of an annular channel through a portion of the-said shell takenon line into which is introduced ice preventing liquid be associated with the propeller *blades as tobut the plane of rotation is substantially at right. 5.

V-V .of Fig. 4. through tube 40 which extends from any suitable Fig. 6 is an enlarged irregular cross-sectional source of supply, not here shown. The open side view through the propeller assembly taken on of ll lacontinuous and concentric to 'the axis of rotation of fore liquid may be supplied to the reservoir as drive shaft 58' and therethe propeller assembly is rotating.

Distributor shell 28 has a number of conduits formed in the bottom and side wall thereoil when the shell is cast. These conduits 62 are in communication at their one end with reservoir 88 and extend to a'point adjacent to each noted 35 respectively.

The outlet ports dd are in the plane or rotation of the propeller blades and in front of the respective blades so that as liquid is ejected therefrom, it will be caught by the blade as it travels. Centrifugal force will evenly distribute the liquid over the surface of the propeller blade and to the end thereof so that a film of ice preventing liquid may be maintained at all times.

From the immediately foregoing, it will be apparent that shell it provides in a unitary member, theoonduits and reservoir which are so essential to structures of the kind embodying this invention. It is only necessary to efiectively fasten shell 28 in place to complete the combination and the means for securing this shell in the operative position comprises a series, or plurality of brackets, best shown in Fig. 3. These brackets are secured to hub id in a novel manner and they are disposed between propeller blades it. The brackets engage the inner face of wall 32 of shell 28 so that the smooth outer surface oi shell 28 remains to overcome wind resistance.

Each of the series or brackets just mentioned,

is identical and comprises a yoke it which pre sents opposed sides as through wluch is formed windows so. The back of yoke as should be arched to conform to the contour of the inner face of shell 2d and a shoulder i3? is formed thereon to engage the edge of annular wall 32. This shoulder limits the inward movement of yoire as during assembly and leaves a portion thereof projected beyond wall 32 for the purpose of engaging ring it.

A bolt 5 secures together yoke it and shell 2% and a similar bolt 56 secures together yoke :36 and ring 25. After these bolts are in position, a locking member 58 pivotally mounted as at es, is swung into engagement with the heads there; of to prevent accidental loosening. Thus, nose piece 2-5 and shell 28 are secured together and cooperate to house hub M and a portion of each propeller blade it.

A resilient bearing member til, made in ac-- cordance with the teachings of U. S. Letters Patent Nos. 1,452,693; 1,548,043; 1,996,210 and others, is secured to side walls 38 of yoke db so that the resilient rubber elements 52 thereof,

may support the short shaft, or belt 6 5 as shown in Fig. 7. A bushing as should be carried by element 62 so as to effectively journal bolt 5%. The axes of bolts E i extending from side to side of yoke d8, are on the planes with the outer faces of ears 2d of hub i l, and because of this relation a pair of links to may be disposed in the manner illustrated. Each link so has an opening Ill therethrough to receive the bolt it which fastens together the two cats or portions of hub It. A tubular portion i i of link to receives bolt to so that when the parts are assembled, links t8 becomes the only metallic connection between hub i l and the liquid applying structure.

So mounted, the distributor shell 28 and asso ciated parts, insures dampening the major part of the vibration which would otherwise be trans- 'mitted from the drive shaft respectively.

said reservoir -tributor shell having an jectlng through the plane of rotation of the said and hub 38 and M mo em illustrate a modified form of this instance, a U-shaped Figs. 10 and 11 the invention and in bracket 10B is employed. A rubber facing 802 is directly secured to bracket I00 and then a plate 3M, vulcanized to one side of facing W2. Bolts Wt secure together shell 28 and ring 26 in the some way as before set down, and rubber E02 becomes the vibration dampening element.

The use of two mounting brackets between propeller blades it as indicated by Fig. 3, will impart a stabilizing, yielding and efiective support for shell 33, and there will be no tendency for any element of the liquid applying structure to loosen or free itself from the propeller assembly during operation.

All of the parts described above, should be made of light that the weight added will not be objectionable.

The operation of all the parts mentioned and shown in the drawings is clear to anyone skilled in the art, and while the invention has been illustrated and shown in a specific manner, it is desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

metal, such as aluminum alloy, so A 1. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the combinetlon of structure for applying ice preventing liduid to the propeller blades, comprising a dishshaped distributor shell having a bottom and annular side wall mounted on the hub and forming a liquid reservoir in said bottom, and a plurality of conduits in said side wall, said reservoir bdng adapted to receive a supply of liquid as the entire assembly is being rotated, said conduits each being in communication with the reservoir at one end and having the other end in the plane of rotation of the propeller blades and in front of the respective propeller blades.

2. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the cornblnatlon of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a distributor shell mounted on the hub and forming a. liquid reservoir and a plurality of conduits,

being adapted to receive a of liquid as the entire assembly is being rotated,

said conduits each being in communication with the reservoir atone end and having the other end adjacent to one of the propeller blades, said dispropeller blades said conduits being formed in part by said side wall.

3. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an. axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventingliquid to the propeller blades, comprising a distributor shell mounted on the hub and forming a liquid reservoir and a plurality of conduits, said reservoir being adapted to receive a supply of liquid as the entire said conduits each being in communication with the reservoir at one end and having the other end adjacent to one of the propeller blades, said distributor shell having a notched annular side wall projecting through the plane of rotation of the propeller blades, said blades extending radially through the notches, said conduits being formed in part by said side wall and having their pply annular'side wall proassembly is being rotated,

said other. ends adjacent to the said notches whereby the ice preventing liquid is freed in the path of rotation of the propeller blades.

4. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a distributor shell having a liquid reservoir and a plurality of conduits formed in the body thereof, said conduits being in communication with the reservoir and disposed to direct liquid therefrom into the plane of rotation of said propeller blades; and a plurality of brackets connecting the distributor shell with the hub, said brackets being arranged around the axis of rotation in substantially opposed relation.

5.,In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extend-.

ing radially from an axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a distributor shell having a liquid reservoir and a plurality of conduits formed therein, said con-' duits being in communication with the reservoir and disposed to direct liquid therefrom'into the plane of rotation of said propeller blades, and a plurality of brackets connecting the distributor shell with the hub, said brackets being arranged around the axis of rotation in substantially opposed relation, said brackets having resilient bearing mountings therein to yieldably hold said distributor shell in the operative position.

6. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a dishshaped distributor shell having an annular liquid reservoir formed in the bottom, and a plurality of-conduits formed in the body of the bottom and annular side; and a series of brackets connecting the distributor shell with the hub, said brackets being'in engagement with the inner face of the side of said dish-shaped shell and in connection with said'hub between the propellers.

7. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a dishshaped distributor shell having an annular liquid reservoir formed in the bottom, and a plurallty of conduits formed within the bottom and annular side; and a series of brackets connecting the distributor shell with the hub, said brackets being in engagement with the inner fme of the side of said dish-shaped shell and in connection with said hub between the propellers, each of said brackets comprising a yoke, a resilient bearingcarried by the yoke, and a link joining the hub and said resilient bearing.

8. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a dish-shaped distributor shell having an annular liquid reservoir formed in the bottom, and a plurality of conduits formed within the bottom and annular side; and a series of brackets connecting the distributor'shell with the hub, said brackets being in engagement with the inner face of the side of said dish-shaped shell and in connection with said hub between the propellers, each of said brackets comprising a yoke, opposed resilient bearings carried by the yoke. a shaft journalled in said bearings, and a. link joining the shaft and the hub.

9. In an airplane propeller assembly having a hub and a plurality of propeller blades extending radially from an axis of rotation, the combination of structure for applying ice preventing liquid to the propeller blades, comprising a dishshaped distributor shell having an annular liquid reservoir formed in the bottom, and a plurality of conduits formed within the bottom and annular side; and a series of brackets connecting the distributor shell with the hub, said brackets being in engagement with the inner face of the side of said dish-shaped shell and in connection with said hub between the propellers, each of said brackets comprising a yoke, opposed resilient bearings carrled by the yoke, a shaft journalled in said bearings, and a link joining the shaft and the hub, said link having a tubular portion at one end, said shaft being extended through said tubular portion.

THOMAS L. SIEBEN'I'HALER. 

